Family Reunion
by Lucillia
Summary: The mission to Wave goes a little bit differently when Naruto encounters a relative from his mother's side of the family that nobody knew he had. Chapters will be roughly drabble length or maybe a little longer.
1. Surprise Reunion

He made a run for his headband which the water clone was stomping on. Iruka-Sensei had given that to him and there was no way in hell he was going to let some mangy Mist ninja ruin it.

"Uzumaki Naruto, you get back here!" Sakura yelled as if she was his mother or something. The panic in her voice warmed his heart a bit. She cared enough about him to be afraid that he would die.

"Uzumaki?" the water clone said suddenly looking at him rather intently. "Not Uzumaki Sato's son?"

His face burned a bit as the memory of the day one of his academy instructors had gleefully informed him that he was the bastard offspring of a foreigner and that his father had been too ashamed to reveal his identity rose unbidden. It had been after school that day that he learned his mother's name.

"My mother's name was Kushina." he said turning a bit red and practically daring the water clone to say something bad about him or his mother.

There was a sudden yell of "Cousin!" and he found himself enveloped in a bone crushing hug.

After the battle, he knew it was too good to last. Nothing good was ever given to him without either it or something else being taken away. He would strangle that Hunter-Nin with his bare hands the next time he saw him.


	2. Kakashi's Fear

Kakashi felt a twinge of apprehension at the look of hope that rose in Naruto's eyes when he mentioned the possibility that the Demon of the Mist hadn't actually died. He knew that Naruto would be willing to fight the man if it came down to it, but he suspected that Naruto would be unable to kill him were it necessary and that would be one weakness Momochi Zabuza would exploit in an instant.

He knew it would come down to him fighting the swordsman while Naruto and possibly Sasuke fought his accomplice but he feared both that Naruto would do something foolish to protect his recently discovered family member and possibly get himself killed. Either that or he'd try causing him a great deal of pain and misery if he actually killed the man. Naruto was his father's son when it came to what was his. That became patently obvious after what he had done to Mizuki when the traitor had injured Iruka.

He had about a week to think about it though, and come up with a viable plan. He had no desire to harm his sensei's son or allow harm to come to him, nor did he have any particular desire to defend himself from a pissed off Naruto who was intent on ripping his balls off for killing what was probably his only surviving relative.


	3. Haku reflects on Consanguinity

Haku watched transfixed as Naruto pulled the plant he needed from the ground. On the surface, Naruto and Master Zabuza didn't look anything alike. But if one looked deeper one could see enough similarities to indicate shared blood.

There was the way that if the sun hit their hair just right, you could see faint hints of red. There was something about their noses and the way their mouths curled up at the beginnings of a smile. There was also the shape of the hands and how their ring fingers were just slightly longer than their index fingers. It was also in the slightly clumsy manner in which they retrieved medicinal herbs for him.

He had felt a pang of jealousy when he had seen his master hug Naruto, but he understood. Master Zabuza had gone a long time without his family and finding a living relative of his beloved mother would indeed be a special and emotional moment. He could only pray that there would be a moment where Zabuza would hug him like that.


	4. The Fate of the Uzumaki in Mist

Due to the temporary paralysis, there was little Zabuza could do other than sit and think. One subject his thoughts drifted to was his young cousin from Konoha and from there to the rest of his family. He had no doubt that the kid Naruto was related, he yelled just like his mother did after his father had come home drunk and he'd charged at a much stronger opponent with little regard for his safety the way his uncles and younger cousins had been wont to do. The kid ran the same way they did too.

His mother had been the eldest of seven children. When Whirlpool was decimated by the forces of Lightening, there had been an argument about where the family would go. His mother Karin, the twins Ryu and Kenji and the second youngest sister, Momoko wanted to go to Mist. The eldest son, Sato had wanted to go to Konoha as did his youngest brother Ao and the youngest of the girls, Kushina.

In the end they went their separate ways. Momoko got sick on the voyage over and died less than a week after they arrived in Mist. His mother had died prematurely giving birth to his little sister who had been stillborn. The deaths of his uncles and his cousins who fortunately had been a year or two behind him had been one of his reasons for wanting to kill the Mizukage.

He had thought that he had no family left, but thanks to the Uzumaki refusal to back down no matter what, that wasn't the case.


	5. Kakashi's Smart Decision

Kakashi powered up a Raikiri and prepared to thrust it into his opponent's chest. Kakashi then remembered exactly who his opponent was and why that was a bad idea. Kakashi powered down the Raikiri. His opponent then made some comment about him being a coward.

"I'm just being smart. Naruto would never forgive me if I killed his only living relative, and since I'm stuck with him at least until he becomes a Chunin that could be troublesome." he'd said to the swordsman in reply.

"Only living relative?" Momochi Zabuza asked.

"Kushina-san's brothers died in the Third Shinobi War. Kushina herself died shortly after giving birth." he replied.

His comments had apparently distracted the swordsman enough that the mist began to fall away a bit, and when it did, a gang of armed mercenaries headed by someone who was presumably Gato was revealed.


	6. Homecoming

Iruka had waited at the gates of Konoha every time he could spare a moment to do so for several days now. Naruto should have been back by now.

Finally, there he was. Hanging at the back of the group that seemed to consist of his team and a pair of strangers.

The boy was chattering a mile a minute, but he broke off upon seeing him, and with an excited shriek of "IRUKA-SENSEI!" came racing over.

After knocking him over with one of his more enthusiastic hugs, Naruto started chattering rapidly about a...cousin?


	7. New Home

Zabuza stared at the apartment. He and Haku had been given the apartment next door to Naruto's and a small stipend for necessities until he could find a job. He really hadn't expected much considering the neighborhood and the condition of the building, but...

He experimentally flipped the switch next to the door.

At least it had electricity.

He turned the tap on the kitchen sink.

And running water.


End file.
